The India-Israel joint working group (JWG) on defence cooperation has decided to set up a task force to put together a comprehensive 10-year road map to identify new areas of collaboration, the defence ministry said on Friday.
Israel has been among India’s top three arms suppliers for the last five years, according to a report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) in March 2021. Israel accounted for 13% of India’s imports during 2016-20 after Russia (49%) and France (18%).
The decision to form the task force to identify new areas of cooperation for the next decade was taken during the 15th JWG meeting co-chaired by defence secretary Ajay Kumar and the director general of the Israel’s Ministry of Defence, Maj Gen Amir Eshel (retd) earlier this week.
“The two sides reviewed the progress made in military-to-military engagements including exercises and industry cooperation. The co-chairs were apprised of the progress made by the sub working groups (SWGs) on defence procurement and production and research & development,” the ministry said in a statement. India and Israel also agreed to form an SWG on defence industry cooperation for efficient utilisation of resources, effective flow of technologies and sharing industrial capabilities, officials said.